


the sky's red and the water's clear

by GCN, ineedhelpwithmylifern



Category: Lego Ninjago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 08:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23468737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GCN/pseuds/GCN, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedhelpwithmylifern/pseuds/ineedhelpwithmylifern
Summary: A haunted temple and a spirit's voice, leading into a place unknown. Our Ninja may not all come back alive.
Kudos: 12





	the sky's red and the water's clear

**Author's Note:**

> the first round of the Ninjago Discord RP tournament, obviously formatted to fit a fic instead of rp.
> 
> prompt: The ninja hear a voice calling out to them. There's no one around, but the voice is strong. After the ninja follow the voice, they are taken to a new realm. The place's floor was filled with water up to the ankles of the ninja and there are toriis everywhere, but leading to nothing. The sky was a slight reddish color that had stars shining. The voice is still heard, calling out to them.

"Hey, guys! Perfect idea! How about we _all_ explore the spooky temple with a spooky history!" Jay remarked, throwing his hands up. He yelped as a trap set off beside him. "Like it's _totally_ safe!"

Nya rolled her eyes, stepping around one of the plates that would activate a trap. "We're here to figure out what your mom came in here for, Jay. You should know that." 

"Oh, yes! The mom I never knew!" Jay yelled, almost setting off another trap. 

Cole's heart skipped a beat "Jay! Be careful, you almost set off another one," Cole warned as he pulled Jay back. 

Kai looked around the place nervously, he didn't want to be in there at all. "Who's idea was it to come here, and why are we even here in the first place?! Remember the _last_ _time_ we were in a haunted temple?!”

Cole looked at Kai, shaking his head as if to forget something. "Ugh, don't remind me. Let’s please try and finish up in here quickly." 

Lloyd looked back at the team with a glare. "Can you guys _stop_?" The green ninja paused in his place, speaking in a hissed whisper, "You're all going to set off traps by yelling like that!" He took a deep breath before continuing. "Please just pay attention to where you step and don't touch anything with that symbol."

Jay nodded slowly, "Sorry, just worried," He stepped over a stone, "I still don't know why we're looking for my biological mom, though. I have _my_ parents." 

"Because she knows something that we need," Nya spoke, fixing her mask. 

"Need?" Cole laughed nervously, "Need is such a strong word, there are other things that we need instead, like food and water and shelter and _safety_. Safety sounds nice-"

"My sensors tell me that Jay's mom knows something that we absolutely need to know, and to find out what it is, we have to keep going," Zane said in the direction of Cole, who scoffed. 

"Yeah sure. Alright, fine, no need to make me sound dumb." 

Kai started laughing nervously, and then accidentally almost set off _another_ trap 

Lloyd continued on, walking through the small corridor. He pulled out into a wide room, the biggest one they had been in yet. There were no other doorways, except for the multitude of symbols on a good amount of floor panels. "Ok, so we don't touch anything, right?”

"Yes," Nya hummed, walking out into the room as well. "It _can't_ be a dead end." 

The rest of the ninja followed Lloyd into the room. "Let’s try not to make much noise" Kai whispered quietly to the others. "Just in case our voices set off more traps as well" Cole looked around the room and noticed all of the symbols around it, he didn't know what to make out of them. "What do these symbols mean? Zane, try using your scanners to see what these are." Zane scanned around the room but was left without any results. He shook his head. "My scanners aren't picking up anything, for this room, I am rendered useless" 

Lloyd gazed around the room, looking for something, _anything._ "We just need to take a look around." The rest of them nodded, continuing on with what they needed to do. 

It started as a whisper in Jay's ear. Something muttered and unintelligible. He looked at the others to see if they heard it, wondering if it was just him or not. He tried to ignore it. 

After a while, Kai was getting fed up. "Ugh, this is hopeless! There is literally nothing we can do!” He stood, staring at the wall in silence. 

"What is it, Kai? Cole asked looking concerned. 

Kai looked at him, startled. "Nothing, I'm fine" 

_Master of Lightning..._ The voice whispered in Jay's ear, _Come to me..._

Jay nodded, following where it seemed it was coming from. He avoided any of the symbols, making his way to one of the walls. The voice was coming from behind it. "Hello?" He whispered. _Press the stone in front of you, Elemental Master..._

Jay reached his hand up but hesitated. "It has the symbol..." 

_Do it..._

Jay pushed it in, causing the small section of the wall to open up. "What?" 

"Jay, what are you doing-" Cole paused when he realized what happened. "It-it worked," he said, surprised. 

"How, how did you know to do that Jay?" Kai asked. 

"The voice... It told me," Jay whispered, stepping into the newly revealed room. It was much smaller than the other one, with a massive torii in the center. The symbol was nowhere in the room except for on the torii itself, its red color glinting in the firelight from torches around that had suddenly been lit. 

_Walk through it..._ The voice whispered again, _What you're looking for is there…_

Jay nodded, stepping forward. 

"Jay, don't!" Nya called, making her way into the room. "You don't know what'll happen!"

Jay didn't hear her. He had already gone through and vanished.

"Jay?!" Cole shouted as he disappeared. "Why would he do that!?" 

"We have to go after him!" Kai shouted heading towards the next room. 

"But what will happen to the rest of us if we go after him?" Zane warned. 

“If we don't then we will regret it for the rest of our lives. C’mon Zane, it's Jay, we have to!" Cole said as he went through. The rest of the ninja then followed him.

* * *

Jay blearily opened his eyes, seeing a sky of deep red, small golden stars making their way through. He sat up, registering that he was laying in water, yet he wasn't wet. He stood, looking around. Many replicas of the torii he walked through were everywhere. This was wrong... 

The other ninja then appeared with him. Zane got up and looked around their surroundings. "Where are we Zane?" Cole asked. 

Zane turned around puzzled. "It seems that we have been transported to another realm, however, I am not familiar with it." 

Kai got up and turned to Jay. "Jay, why did you do that? _What were you thinking?_ " 

Jay looked at his friends quietly. "The voice told me to." 

Lloyd shook his head, exasperated. "Well, now we're stuck here and we'll have to find a way out." 

Nya spoke up, "There's so much land to cover- or well, water- it would take forever to get through it all."

"That's why," Lloyd began, "We will need to split up." 

"That isn't a very good idea Kai," Zane reminded, "Nothing good ever happens whenever we split up."

Kai turned to Zane, "That was Lloyd's idea." 

"Oh sorry, I guess it was a force of habit," Zane said while Cole laughed. 

Kai looked disgusted. "Anyway, what other choice do we have? This realm looks huge and we have to find a way to get out of here soon. We won't find anything anytime soon if we all stay together." 

Cole nodded. "Hate to admit it guys, but Kai is right. We should split up into pairs so we aren't on our own though." 

"Nya and I," Lloyd began, "Cole and Zane, Kai and Jay." He looked around. "We all go a different direction and meet back here in let's say, about an hour." 

"Me and Kai?" Jay countered, "But why-" 

"Let's get going." Nya hummed, picking a direction. 

They all wet their own ways. Kai turned to Jay. "I don't make a lot of bad ideas." He said under his breath. 

"Hey, I don't either, but that's what they think," Jay hummed, kicking the water. "Did you hear the voice too or am I going crazy?" 

"You know what, I thought the same thing too. I heard a voice earlier on. It was really strange." Kai said as he almost fell over in the water. "I always hated water," he grumbled under his breath. 

"But like- it was talking to me," Jay hummed, "At least the water isn't like, getting us wet or anything." 

Kai looked at him concerned. "What was he saying?" 

"Something about me being the Elemental Master of Lightning and then it told me to open the wall-" Jay huffed, "And now we're here." 

_Master of Lightning... Master of Fire..._

Both ninja were startled. "How do you know us?" Kai questioned. "Who are you? Show yourself!" 

**__**_Oh? You're both here and you look ready to put up a fight..._

Jay whipped around, looking. "No one... And the others are already gone..." He wrung his hands, "Kai..." 

Kai turned to Jay. "As soon as he shows up, he will have wished he didn't!" Kai looked back again. "But now what do we do?" 

"We be ready, I guess," Jay whispered, taking out his nunchucks. "Show yourself!" 

Kai pulled out his sword quickly. "You want a fight? You got one!" 

_Well then,_ The voice echoed, _I'll take one. But-_ A spirit seemed to appear on the top of the nearest torii. _I will not battle, myself. My **friends** will take care of it..._

"What do you mean?" Jay yelled, in a panic. 

Kai looked at the top of the torii. "There!" He shouted to Jay. "On top of there, must be one of his _friends_ " 

**__**_Wrong._

"What-" Jay felt the water from underneath him falter and grow deeper. "Kai?" Jay lost all balance as he fell through it, "KAI-!" 

_Now, now, now, Elemental Master of Fire. This is my friend._ A shadow form of Jay appeared, standing on the water. 

Kai turned around looking for Jay but found no one. "Jay? JAY!? Where are you!?" He turned back to the shadow figure. "What did you do to my friend!?" 

The shadow said nothing, just standing there. Its red, unblinking eyes watched him. _You want your friend back? Defeat the shadow._

* * *

Jay found himself facing a shadow form of Kai. _If you wish to return to your friend, defeat mine first._

* * *

Kai looked at the shadow closely. "It looks like Jay." He moved closer up, but on guard. "Jay? Is that you?" 

_Why would it be your friend? All it is is a copy of him, a shadow for you to fight._ The voice spoke, icy. 

Kai took a deep breath. "If it is like the real-life version of Jay, then this should be no problem." Kai swung his sword at the shadow, the shadow dodged and tripped Kai over. 

* * *

Jay was shocked at the sudden movement of the shadow, dodging the sword. He knocked it down with a quick blow to the legs, retreating a bit. This fought a lot like Kai.

* * *

Kai was surprised, that always worked for anyone he ever fought. He also the reflexes of the shadow and how they really matched Jay's. Kai got up, more pumped. "Let’s try that again," he went into his spinjitzu tornado heading towards the shadow. 

* * *

The shadow was using spinjitzu. The shadow was _using spinjitzu._ Jay shook his head and used his as well. Only one way to counter that. Jay spun into his own. 

* * *

Kai and the shadow collided and both were launched backward. Kai was surprised. "He knows spinjitzu too? Just like Jay."

* * *

Jay skidded back, grabbing his nunchucks. "Let me go home!" He yelled at the shadow, swinging them around. He could feel the electricity crackling.

* * *

Kai noticed the lightning. "You aren't Jay" he shouted, as he charged up a fireball in his fist.

* * *

Jay ran at the shadow, hitting it with his nunchucks, trying his best to do some sort of damage. _Was Kai okay?_

* * *

Kai quickly countered the nunchucks before he could get hurt, trying to protect himself.

* * *

Jay glowered when the shadow countered him, having been knocked back. "Dumb-" Jay hissed under his breath before going in again.

* * *

Kai was getting frustrated. "It's time I put this to an end." Kai dodged the shadow's attack, turned around, and stabbed straight through the shadow with his sword.

* * *

All his senses spiked for a moment and then there was quiet. A sharp pain had appeared in his chest. Jay felt there and his glove returned red. The shadow stared back at him with red emotionless eyes. Jay closed his, breathing raspily. When he opened them, the worried, soft brown eyes of Kai stared back at him.

* * *

Kai looked at the shadow, then closed his eyes. He opened them to find Jay on the ground with a huge cut through his chest, the same that was on the shadow. Kai's face changed all of a sudden. Instead of having a confident look on his face, he had a look of worry. "Jay!?"

* * *

"K-Kai." Jay rasped, reaching up to the other ninja. "The water still isn't getting me wet..." He joked, trying feebly and failing to take off his own mask. 

Kai bent down to his friend who was slowly dying in front of him. "J-Jay-I-I'm so sorry," Kai said almost having tears in his eyes. "It will be ok I'm sure, you will be fine." He said trying to have hope. 

"Kai, take off your mask-" Jay hummed, attempting to take his own mask off again, "Water doesn't help-" 

Kai took off his mask, along with Jay's. He could see Jay trying to keep his smile up, but he could still see the pain in his eyes. 

"Don't cry," Jay grinned, "What if it was worse?" One of the stars glinted above him. "The sky is pretty." 

Kai chuckled at his remark but was hurt on the inside. "Jay I'm so so sorry, I didn't know, I-I didn't mean to. What can I do?" 

"What did you do?" Jay whispered, "I don't see anything wrong..." 

Kai couldn't hold his tears back any longer. "You will live through this Jay, you will be okay," Kai tried to have hope, but deep down he knew there was none left. 

"You did nothing wrong, Kai," Jay noted with a weak smile. "Nothing wrong. You're a good friend. Good. Friend." His breathing became softer and shallower as the wound on his chest bled more and more. 

"No Jay, nonono please stay, don't go" Kai ripped off a bit of his clothing and tried to cover the blood bleeding out. "Don't leave me" 

"I would never leave you, no..." Jay hummed, watching him. "Wouldn't even try." Jay laid his head back in the water. "I'll miss you." 

Kai shed more tears after that. "I won't let you go" he then truly realized that there was no hope for Jay at this point. "I'll-I'll miss you too, we all will. I'm, I'm so sorry..." 

"You did nothing wrong," Jay whispered, before taking one final breath as his eyes fluttered shut. "Nothing wrong..." 

Kai looked down at his friend. "Jay? Jay? Are you still there?" He started to cry, he was holding onto the corpse of one of his best friends, and he was gone, forever... 

_Well done!_ The voice was back, and now there seemed to be a shadow to tie it to. _The Master of Fire has finally punished the Master of Lightning for her crimes!_ Red eyes watched Kai. 

Kai got up slowly, shakily. "You... YOU MONSTER!!!" Kai ran towards the voice but suddenly stopped. "H-her? What are you talking about!?? YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!" 

_She hurt my temple years ago. She had to be punished. You have taken care of it! Your friend was a criminal in disguise!_

"What are you talking about? Jay did nothing wrong! He was one of the kindest people I knew! Also HE, not SHE. You are mistaken, and you will pay..." Kai said in anger and guilt, lashing out at the spirit.

 _Your attacks will do nothing to me. And was your friend not the Master of Lightning?_

Kai looked confused. "Yes, yes he was... But not anymore… Why?" 

_The Master of Lightning hurt my home. So I decided to hurt... Her?_ The spirit was confused. 

"The Master of Lightning, was Jay. Jay was a he. His mother was the master of Lightning, which is why we came here in the first place." Kai said angrily. 

_Her._ The spirit repeated. _I am sorry, but her crimes have been atoned for. I will return you to your friends._ Suddenly they were all back where they started, the spirit gone. 

"Oh look Zane, we're back with the others," Cole spoke, surprised, heading towards his friends. "Hey guys, what happened?" 

Kai's knees fell to the ground. He stayed silent.

Cole looked over towards him. He noticed he was alone.

"Kai Where's Jay?" Kai stayed silent, and looked up at his friends with tears in his eyes. 

Nya kneeled down beside Kai, worried. When her eyes caught on Jay, laying still in the water, she shook her head. She hugged her brother, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I'm sorry..." 

They stayed like that until they suddenly appeared somewhere else- the quiet jungle in front of the old temple.

Cole looked down at the ground. "We came here to find out about Jay's mother, and-and we ended up losing Jay himself." 

Kai finally got up, but still looked hurt. "It's-it's all my fault. If it wasn't for me, Jay would still be here." 

"Kai, it can't be that bad," Lloyd whispered, putting his hand on the other's shoulder. 

Kai removed Lloyd's hand from his shoulder quickly. "It is! I was fighting his shadow, not realizing it was actually him, and I-I stabbed right through him! I killed him!!" 

"You- stabbed him?" Nya asked slowly before shaking her head quietly. "The way you said it Kai- you didn't know that it was him." She bit her lip, "It was an accident." 

Lloyd nodded, before kneeling down beside Jay. He placed his fingers on their friend's neck. No pulse. 

"We didn't get what we came for." Zane looked down at their fallen friend. "But we left without one of our brothers." 

Kai put up a straight face, just like Jay would in this situation. "Let's go home everyone" he said in a raspy voice. "Let's never return here ever again. Ever..." 

A short wind flew throughout them, with a silent whisper. _The Master of Lightning is alright now. He is safe._ It was almost as if they could still hear his laugh.


End file.
